The reception will have to wait. The state visit of King Carlos III to France, which was to begin this Sunday the 26th, has been postponed until further notice, due to the protests called by the unions to protest against the pension reform, as explained by the Élysée this Friday 24.
Despite the fact that the British Government had clarified on Thursday that the trip was still on, the French Presidency has assumed that the conditions that allow reflecting the “friendly relationship” between the two countries do not exist. “The French and British governments (…) made this decision to welcome Carlos III under the conditions that correspond to our friendly relationship,” reads the official statement.
This postponement of the agenda has been agreed by France and the United Kingdom, after a telephone conversation between Carlos III himself and the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
Carlos III had planned to travel to France from March 26 to 29, on his first state visit to another country as king since he assumed the crown in September 2022. In addition to Paris, where he would be received with all honors, the agenda also included a stopover in Bordeaux.
450 detainees in one day
In France, protests against the pension reform have intensified in recent days. On Thursday, more than 450 people were arrested and the unions have announced strikes for next Tuesday.